kayaking the abel tasman national park and driving the west coast

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leaving Wellington made me happy again. the seas in the Cook strait between the north and south island were rough and i've never seen yet the ferry of that size swinging that much. after the ferry entered fiords of Marlborough sounds, the sea became calm and we enjoyed the nice view. well, the view was nothing special anyway. i was planning to stay a bit longer in the fiord region, but after seeing it from the ferry, I decided to leave earlier. I headed to the northernmost point of south island, the Golden Bay and the Farewell Spit (an enormous sand dune). I totally recommend this place as there are almost no tourists, no noise and no everyday rush. the far biggest town in the region is Collingwood (pop. 250), and there is even a mobile network 😊) I relaxed there for a couple of days.
afterwards, I've left civilization for 3 days, because I went to Abel Tasman national park. There are huts and camping sites at the park, but no shops, telephone or electricity. so one must bring everything he needs. I did kayaking for two days, then I put the kayak on the watertaxi and walked the third bay back. there are many golden-sandy beaches in the park, a couple of seal colonies and supposedly some penguins also (I haven't seen any). But I was told that George the Dolphin was around in the bays and i've really met him, as he jumped out of water 1 meter from the kayak. unbelievable!! I've started taking pictures only as he was far away, but I will remember him.
there are many lagoons in abel tasman which fill up with water at high tide only (the tide difference is 6 meters!). at high tide, youy can kayak around and at low tide, you can cross them walking.
in the hostel in motueka i've met 4 other people, all heading south. so we were travelling together, 5 people, 3 cars. we have visited punakaiki pancake rocks, the Okarito lagoon and the Franz Josef glacier together. I was not too impressed by any, but we had a good time anyway. and it was a good way to relax after exhausting kayaking/trekking
they decided then to do one mountain trek in the surroundings of the glacier, but I preferred mountainbiking and I headed further south to Wanaka. I had a fantastic MTB trip yesterday!!
we'll see how the things develop in the next days. there is some snowfall forecasted for next days and i hope the streets will be OK.
so guyz, enjoy the summer and be happy that you are in europe!!
don't worry for me, I am very fine and healthy although i don't do too stupid things any more.
have fun!

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Photos

marlborough sounds
the ferry partly rides along the long fiords

farewell spit
the 35 km long sand dune in the north of south island

George the Dolphin
guyz who gave me the kayak told me that George was around. and he was :))

kayaking the lagoon
at high tide only

high tide coming...
nothing tragic this time, the car is far away :)) just the lagoon is filling up

west coast
lots of big waves, cliffs and beaches

single lane bridges
generally, traffic is light in new zealand. that's why many bridges are single lane. in this extreme case, the railway and the road traffic in both directions share a single bridge

okarito lagoon
with mount Cook in the background (right hand-side)

at the Franz Josef glacier
a bulk of snow and ice, what else

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